An apparatus of this type is known for example from DE 10 2005 012 699 A1.
DE 103 23 217 A1 describes the production of high-resolution radial sectional images of tissue, for example, blood vessels. However, pathological changes in blood vessels, for example tumors, or deposits—plaques—found in blood vessels cannot always be identified by this means.
Umar Mahmood et al.: “Near Infrared Optical Imaging of Protease Activity for Tumor Detection”, Radiology 213:3, 866-870 (1999) discloses fluorescent metabolic markers which bind specifically to specific pathogenic tissue regions. These pathogenic tissue regions may be, for example, tumors, inflammations, vessel portions affected with plaques, or other pathogenic foci. By exciting markers of this type with light of a suitable wavelength, pathogenic portions of tissue can be visualized and removed during a surgical operation.
The dissertation by Grigorios Valassis “Einfluss der photodynamischen Therapie auf die Neointimabbildung vor und nach der Stentimplantation in die Arteria femoralis des Hausschweins [Influence of photodynamic therapy on neointima imaging before and after stent implantation into the femoral artery of the domestic pig]”, which was published in 2004, discloses that medicaments can be bound specifically to deposits present in veins and then released by irradiating with light to destroy the deposits.